The series premiere of Steven Bochco’s “Murder in the First” did fairly killer business for TNT on Monday night, drawing a total of 4.9 million viewers across two plays to give the network its biggest series launch in two years.

Meanwhile,the season premiere of “Major Crimes” drew 6.7 million total viewers across two plays, improving marginally over last year’s season premiere.

With its initial 10 p.m. broadcast, “Murder in the First” nabbed 3.8 million total viewers, which made it the top basic-cable series launch so far this year.

In the 18-49 demographic most important to advertisers, the crime drama “Murder in the First,” which will focus on a single investigation across the entire season, grabbed 1.1 million total viewers across two airings, with 808,000 of them in its initial 10 p.m. telecast.

For its Season 3 premiere, “Major Crimes” was up 3 percent across two plays in total viewers compared to last year’s premiere. The initial 9 p.m. telecast was up 3 percent among total viewers and 1 percent in the 18-49 demo.